14 mo DS _can_ walk but has a problem with confidence

[lorrycat]

Hi all.
My DS is almost 14 months and has just started to walk within the last 2 weeks. He will walk between DP and I, but only if we give him loads of encouragement. Quite a lot of the time he will stop halfway, quickly turn and almost run back to the start. It's as though he doesn't have the confidence to get going.

I know that I shouldn't push him too much, as he will do it in his own time, but I expected him to be walking well by now. My friend's DS has been walking perfectly from 9.5 months, just took off by himself.

Is there anything I can be doing to encourage him more? At the moment DP and I are standing facing one another, about 6-8 feet apart and coaxing DS to walk to either one of us.

Thanks for any advice
Lori

You could try a wooden spoon - get him to hold one end and you hold the other then let go without him noticing and he will hopefully continue on without you. This was a tip from a physio as my dd was late to walk and had very real issues with her confidence. Worked well for my dd!